We have previously discussed the continued prosecution of minors for engaging in sexual conduct under state laws. These laws have a sexist record of boys prosecuted for having sex with a minor where girls were treated as the victim, even when the sex was consensual and both were minors or close in age. There is a new case out of Indian River, Florida that is equally troubling. Kaitlyn Hunt, 18, is a senior in high school and is facing felony charges for engaging in a sexual relationship with another girl at her school. Despite an outcry against prosecuting Hunt for consensual sex, the prosecutor has refused to drop the charges of two counts of lewd and lascivious battery of a child 12 to 16 years of age. Assistant State Attorney Brian Workman has insisted that he will only agree to a plea deal where she would accept one felony conviction and a two-year sentence of home confinement. Such a plea would likely put Hunt on the sex offender registry for life.
The girls started dating when Kate turned 18 and the other girl was 14. When the other girl’s parents found out about the relationship, they called police. Police then tapped a telephone conversation in which Kate told the girl that she loved her.
Hunt’s mother believes the charges are the result of homophobia and intolerance for a lesbian relationship.
Hunt was previously selected as the “Student with Most School Spirit” and had a good record at Sebastian River High School. However, after the arrest, she was kicked off the school’s basketball team by her coach, who said that the school wanted to avoid “drama.” The school board then expelled her from the high school in her graduating year.
Consent is not a defense under the Florida law criminalizing sexual activity with a minor between the ages of 12 and 16. Bruce Colton, state attorney for Florida’s 19th circuit, has insisted that the case will go to trial unless Hunt pleads guilty. The second-degree felony charges can result in a 15 year sentence with registration as a sex offender. We have previously seen the disabling impact of such registration on young people convicted for statutory rape in consensual relations with other students.
As discussed earlier, some states like Ohio have struck down parts of their statutory rape laws.
The concern is that there are obviously many cases involving minors as young as 14 engaging in sexual relationships. Those cases are rarely prosecuted. Moreover, regardless of whether this is a homosexual or heterosexual relationship, it involved consent between two high school students. None of this condones what Hunt did. This was a 14 year old child and, regardless of Hunt’s feelings, it was clearly improper and presumptively harmful to have a sexual relationship with a 14 year old. The question is whether this could not have been handled with a restraining order preventing further contact as opposed to treating this as a criminal matter.
What do you think?
What OS and mespo said.
BK, et al,
If we assume, hypothetically, the younger girl is more immature than average. In that case, counseling is in order, not a felony conviction. The reverse is true as well. What if the older girl is less mature than average? What then? I doubt either of those scenarios are in play; however, given the way this played out, with the parents waiting until Kate had her 18th birthday, does not pass the smell test.
One thing we do know about brain development. Full maturity is not reached until the 20s. That is when the brain’s tertiary areas begin to develop neurologically, especially those areas which control higher executive function. In other words, what we commonly call judgment and maturity. A teen brain is not fully developed, and the fact of a birthday does not make it happen automatically. What is so magical about being 17 today and 18 tomorrow? Especially in the context of ruining a bright young woman’s life and future?
If convicted or if she pleads guilty, it will affect her ability to get a scholarship or student loans, get a visa to visit other countries, limit where she can live or come in contact with kids, get a security clearance, go to law school, or any number of other consequences.
I think the younger girl’s parent’s motives need to be examined, as well as the motives of state attorney Bruce Colton. If anyone can convince me this is not driven out of homophobia, religious fervor or political reasons, you are one heck of a salesperson.
bettykath, I agree w/ the wisdom of your comment.
A senior and a freshman dating. imo, it depends on the relative maturity of the individuals. A predatory senior and an immature frosh would be a problem regardless of genders. Not sure that criminal charges are appropriate.
Technically, someone under the age of consent cannot consent. The contact was, under the letter of the law, illegal. Although it would have been legal in, say, the Vatican State where the age of consent is 14. Panama, and others 12. Some 13, 14 or 15. Many 16.
Surely there should be an allowance for the apparent consent with a nearly-peer. Was the younger too much younger?
Perhaps.
The line must be drawn somewhere and the state has done so. There exist young sexual predators, just above the age-of-consent themselves, who target just-maturing younger children. Psychologist testimony that the older is not such should be allowed in mitigation maybe.
Lifetime sex-offender status seems just too severe. Even the “community control” for two years seems somewhat excessive. A probation during which contact with someone under the age-of-consent would lead to a felony charge, but successful non-contact during the probation period would result in dismissal of the pending charge sounds about right.
Suggestion to Ms. Hunt: There is an age-of-consent. Follow it.
As Philip Z said: Be careful out there.
Otteray Scribe 1, May 22, 2013 at 7:53 am
The relationship started well before Kate’s 18th birthday. She was seventeen when she started dating the younger girl.
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Good point.
Two underage kids date, one turns 18, gets beefed while the other does not get beefed.
That shows, as you said, mean spirited parents that may lose their own daughter with their ill advised tactic.
I’ll pile on… What mespo said and AY seconded.
This is absolute BS….. What mespo said too…. And I’m reserving jokes for later….. This is serious….
DavidM, I would still be crying foul. AoC laws need to be formed to accept an average of ages in a situation. 14-18 year olds are high school students, pretty typically. They should be allowed to interact in any way possible. 13 year olds and 19 year olds CAN be high school students, but it’s not typical… So 14-18 works just fine.
In MD we have laws that make sense when it comes to things like that… And our overall AoC is 16, because there can be 16 year olds in college, so why not let them interact with college folks in a typical manner that other college students might interact in?
States have a legitimate interest in protecting minors from the sexual advances of adults who can easily prey on the minor’s naiveté and curiosity. That said, this case hardly presents a case for felony prosecution. Here you have two students with no hint of intimidation. You also have a consensual relationship with a minor younger than the state mandated age of consent (Florida’s is 18 unless you are married then it’s 16). I have seen heterosexual cases handled much differently and most involved counseling and community service and no criminal record saddling the young adult. This is a publicity or religiously driven prosecution that the judge should resolve.
BriBri needs to go out into pirvate practice and do divorces and bankruptcies. But no divorces where kids ae involved. He really needs to go back to Russia.
This prosecutor is in violation of the International Statutory Schmuck Law, which is a War Crime and a Crime Against Nature as well as a Crime Against Nurture.
Never trust a prosecutor with first name Brian or Bryan. Same with last name of Brian or Bryan. This guy needs to do two years in prison for even filing this charge. Us dogs are gonna hire a bus and go poop in his yard in Indian River.
The following comment to the petition initiated by Kaitlyn’s father caught my eye:
Anna Thomas DUESSELDORF, GERMANY
How ridiculous! In Germany, teenagers from the age of 14 are allowed to have sexual contact with 18 year olds by law. You just have to be under 21. What is it with your problem of sexuality, America! Grow up…this is the 21st century!
Isn’t the real question here, “what is the age of consent for sexual relations”?
What we have here is sympathy for homosexuality forcing people to consider lowering the age of consent. If this was an 18 year old boy and a 14 year old girl, would people be yelling foul as loudly as they are in this case?
Homosexual relations are not the same as heterosexual relations, but we keep trying to force them to be the same regardless of the truth. When we do this, there will be more and more problems created.
So back to the real question: “How old does a person need to be to consent to sexual relations with another person”?
Should there be a lower age for homosexual relations than there is for heterosexual relations, or do we lower it for both across the board?
If the current law has the age of consent wrong, what should the law identify as the age of consent?
Sexual relations between an 18 year old and a 14-15 year old are problematic regardless of the gender of the individuals. States draw lines of what is acceptable and those lines are important to protect children 15 and younger. I wish I knew exactly where those lines should be and what the perfect level of punishment is appropriate. Adults, even 18 year old adults, should think long and hard about having sexual activity with a minor who is 14 or 15. I’m sympathetic to Ms. Hunt but I also am concerned about the welfare of children who may be victimized by adults. In my state, the ‘Romeo and Juliet’ law protects consentual activity between an 18 year old and a 16 year old but an age difference of more than two years can make sexual activity a crime.
Be careful out there.
According to Kate’s uncle, if she accepts the plea deal, she will still have a felony on her record.
I wonder if the parents realize they may be losing their own daughter forever by pressing these charges? This is mean-spirited, not to mention reflecting total ignorance of psychology of adolescence.
The relationship started well before Kate’s 18th birthday. She was seventeen when she started dating the younger girl. The girl’s parents waited until after Kate had her 18th birthday to file a complaint.
Homophobia, much? Hope this backfires on the parents and district attorney. Let’s hope Kate has a vigorous defense and does not let herself be bullied into a plea. There is a fundraiser for her legal defense:
http://www.gofundme.com/2yz5ts
Blogger Christian Dem in NC wrote a long story about it on Daily Kos a couple of days ago, and has more details:
http://www.dailykos.com/story/2013/05/18/1210118/-Florida-teen-brought-up-on-CRIMINAL-charges-for-same-sex-relationship
“The State Attorney’s Office is offering a plea deal under which Hunt could avoid the sex offender classification. She could plea to a lesser charge of child abuse and be under community control for two years, followed by a year of probation. During community control, she would be confined to her home except for going to work, school, church or to doctors.
She has until Friday to accept the offer or prosecutors will move ahead with the more severe charges of lewd and lascivious battery.”
http://www.wptv.com/dpp/news/region_indian_river_county/kaitlyn-hunt-aclu-condemns-prosecution-of-indian-river-county-teen#ixzz2U1NoUTmd
http://aclufl.org/2013/05/21/aclu-of-florida-statement-on-prosecution-of-18-year-old-kaitlyn-hunt/
ACLU of Florida Statement on Prosecution of 18-Year-Old Kaitlyn Hunt
May 21, 2013
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
CONTACT: ACLU of Florida Media Office, (786) 363 – 2737 media@aclufl.org
The following is a statement from the ACLU of Florida on the case of Kaitlyn Hunt, a Sebastian, Florida high school student who faces felony charges for having a relationship with a 15-year-old female schoolmate.
The ACLU of Florida condemns the prosecution of 18-year-old Kaitlyn Hunt. The facts as we understand them suggest that the state is prosecuting Kaitlyn for engaging in behavior that is both fairly innocuous and extremely common. Such behavior occurs every day in tens of thousands of high schools across the country, yet those other students are not facing felony convictions (and, in Florida, the lifetime consequences of a felony conviction) and potential lifelong branding as sex offenders. This is a life sentence for behavior by teenagers that is all too common, whether they are male or female, gay or straight. High-school relationships may be fleeting, but felony convictions are not.
While effective laws are certainly needed to protect Florida’s children from sexual predators, one cannot seriously maintain that Kaitlyn’s behavior was predatory. Application of this law to Kaitlyn’s conduct is another example of the troubling trend in Florida and across the country of criminalizing teenagers. The school-to-prison pipeline is filled with students whose behavior is better addressed by school officials and parents, not by a criminal justice system that turns ordinary teenagers into convicted felons who are prevented from meaningfully contributing to society because of their unjust convictions. Even if Kaitlyn is able to avoid sex-offender registration, a felony conviction will harm her for the rest of her life, catastrophically damaging her employment prospects and even her right to participate in her community as a citizen and vote.
Her promising future could be ruined merely because she engaged in behavior that countless other students in every school operating under the state attorney’s jurisdiction also engage in. This prosecution does nothing to protect Florida’s young people but instead causes a great deal of harm.